Scavenging system for textile machinery



J. J. MCGOWAN EM FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY S CAVENGING SYST 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 22. 1921 ATTORNEYS Jan. 1 1924 J. J. M GOWAN SCAVENGING SYSTEM FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY Fil y 22. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOP.

Patented Jan. 1, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. j

JAMES J. MGGOWAN, OF PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR '10 WHITIN MA- CHINE WORKS, OF WHITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CHUSETTS.

SCAVEN'GING SYSTEM FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY.

Application filed July 22, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES J. MCGOWAN, United States citizen, residing in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, have invented the fol- 6 lowing described Improvements in Scavenging Systems for Textile Machinery.

The invention consists in an organization of pneumatic means particularly suited for removing lint and fly from cotton-combers,

10 and carrying it away to a place of deposit through small piping and with the expenditure of minimum power, thereby making it practical to air-scavenge and deliver the scavenged material of many machines into a common waste bin situated at a relatively remote point, as in another room or building, and adapting the single waste bin system to textile plants already built, and, further, improving the appearance and santitary 2 conditions of mills and making it possible to increase the number of machines that may be installed therein. Previous proposals for air-scavenging cotton combers, for example, have involved either the provision :of a

26 separate waste-can for each machine, which has the objection that the cans must be frequently moved and emptied and space must be left between the machines for the cans and their removal, or else it has required a 30 piping system conducting all the scavenging air to the common bin at the extreme end of the piping system; this latter is impractical because of the large size and bulkiness of the pipes and the very large volume of the air to be moved the whole distance. By the present invention each machine is scavenged by the application of an air current of ample volume and velocity while the removed waste is conveyed away from the [0 machines through narrow pipes and by a. relatively small volume of air flow. The scavenging air fiow is by preference, generated locally; for example, each machine or group of machines may be equipped with a L5 fan driven by the machine iteslf or by a local motor and serving to create an air flow of suflicient volume for scavenging purposes. Such scavenging air-flow, to ether with the fibres carried in it, necessari y constitutes a i0 relatively dilute mixture that is to say, the

mixture incorporates a. relatively large quantity of air in proportion to the fibre carried by it. This dilute mixture is passed into a Serial No. 486,879.

local aggregator or eliminator, which may also be individual to each machine or group of machines, and the effect of which is to aggregate or condense the fibres and permit some or all of the scavenging air to escape. In th1s aggregated or collected condition the fibres are introduced into a second smaller pipe or piping system which removes them to the waste bin. Transit through the smaller piping may be accomplished by the SHCtlOIl effect of a second fan, and a single central station fan or other air-moving apparatus may be used for a number of machines, the capacity ofwhich will of course depend on the number of machines served. In whatever manner the air flow may be created, however, the small piping carries a larger proportion of fibre than the scavenglng air by reason of the more compact condition in which the fibres are delivered to it. The eliminator or aggregator may 0perate in any suitable way to the end of getting rid of some or all of the scavenging air, as, for example, as shown in the pre-, ferred form of such a devlce which is herein understood that various diiferent means can be devised and used for carrying out this step of the process. The small piping rendered possible by the effect of the aggregator can be conveniently installed in any mill, old as well as new, without obstructing overhead space or being unsightly in appearance and is effective and practical for long distances. By thus eliminating the local waste-cans the invention prevents the escape of fine lint into the air breathed by the operators and permits the machines to be set close together. The local scavenging air flow may alsobe produced and used in vanous ways as deemed most practical for the particular machinery.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 represents 111 partial section one of the heads of a cotton combing machine with the invention applied in its preferred form. Fig. 2 is a top plan partly in section of the local fan and the eliminator. Fig. 3 is a. partial plan of the suction manifold and scavenger nozzles, and Fig. 4 is an abbreviated diagram of a system for scavenging a number of machines.

In Fig. 1 the comb cylinder 1 and its ro- A of a conventional or Heilmann type of cotton comber.

coarser weave.

there arecommonly six or more combing heads mounted along the length of the girder dgand that they are all driven from a drive head at the end' of the girder-and are associated with other appurtenant parts and mechanisms and which need not be explained. The waste is removed simultaneously from all of the brushes of the machine by means of suction nozzles 5 located in rear thereof and all of which are carried upon a common suction manifold 6 mounted in appropriatebrackets carried by the main girder t. At a central point the suction manifold is connected by a pipe '1 to the suction side of a rotary fan casing 8 driven by a belt 9 from some convenient shaft of the machine or, if desired, by an individual electric motor. The fan 8 delivers through its outlet 10 against a moving foraminous wall 11 constituted in. the present case by the peripheral surface of a rotary drum carried loosely on a shaft 12 and driven by .a ratchet wheel 13 and pawl 14: adjustably connected to an eccentric rod 15. The ioraminous surface 11 intercepts all the scavenging air delivered from the fan, and

the fibre therein is caught on the surface of the drum and carried thereby underneath a roller 16 which rests by gravity on the drum and is rotated thereby and which serves to mat the fibres on the drum as they pass beneath it. The air passes through the foramlnous wall into the interior of the drum, one end of which is closed by a wall 17 (Fig. 2) while the other end is open and arranged to be connected by a suitable joint to a porous bag 18 such as is commonly used as the air strainer in domestic vacuum cleaners but which may be more open or of The enclosing casing 19, whlch engages the lower edges of the wall 17 and the joint at the bag, prevents the escape of the scavenging air to the atmosv phere except through the bag which thus catches and retains the dirt or such fine lint or fly as may not have been caught by the drum and thus prevents the contamination of the air of the room thereby.

The matted cotton fibres emerging from the nip of the condenser roller 16 on the drum enter into a shallowhood or closed chamber 20 constituting the entrance to the small conveyor-pipe 21. This chamber is formed in part by a cover22 which is hinged to the pipe 21, or otherwise arranged so that it can be opened for-inspection or for cleaning the condenser roll 16 when desired, While the bottom of the chamber is placed close to the screen 11 and terminates short of the roller 16 to provide the intake for the conveyor. The pipe 21 leads to a It will be understood that naraaea trunk line 23, usually overhead, and which is connected to thesuction side of the cen-.

tral fan 24; various other similar pipes, from other local eliminator or transferring means, may also lead to the same trunk as shown in Fig. 4 wherein the trunk line 23 is diagrammed as serving two cotton combers placed back to back at its end, and others at the point 26. It will be understood that.

whole of the air component of the relatively concentrated mixture thus formed. From the fan 24 the concentrated mixture passes into the bin or collector 25 Where the scavenged material is deposited and the conveyor air permitted to escape to the atmosphere; the nature of this collector is not material to the invention and well known to the-art, and any number of fans 24 may deliver into it. A shield 27, carriedby the arms 28 on the fixed shaft 12, extends part way around the interior of the drum screen. and is adjustable to .further open or close the conveyor intake.

It will be apparent from Fig. 4 that the machines, cotton combers as shown, may be set close together back to back; that is to say, no aisle need be left at the back of each machine as is necessary when waste cans are used for each machine. *Correspondingly more combers may be installed in the mill. By adjusting the ratchet advance of the transferring drum, as by changing the stroke of the ratchet arm, the speed of the drum and hence the thickness of the fibre mat presented to the conveyor intake may be adjusted to the maximum dey only infrequently since only relatively small quantities of waste pass into it.

Claims 1. A scavenger system for textile mills comprising the combination with a plurality of textile machines, of suction scavenger apparatus, local to such machines, operating with a large volume air flow in relation to the amount of waste removed and havingiibre screening means, and pneumatic conveyor apparatus common to all said machines operating with a less volume air flow and organized to conduct waste from said local screening means to a remote waste bin,

2. A scavenger system for textile mills comprising the combinationwith a pluralmeans, pneumatic conveyor apparatus operating with a less volume air flow to remove waste from said screening means to a common waste bin, and means driven by said textile machines for transferring thewaste fibre from one apparatus to the other.

3. A scavenger system for textile mills comprising the combination with a plurality of textile machines, of suction scavenger apparatus including suction fans having large volume air flow with reference to the fibre removed an fibre-screening means, such scavenger apparatus being incorporated in said machines and pneumatic conveyor apparatus comprising collector piping associated with said local screening means and having relatively small volume of air flow with reference to the fibre moved therein and adapted to conduct such fibre to a remote place of deposit.

4. In a scavenger system for textils mills the combination, of a textile machine, a suction scavenger apparatus incorporated therein and o erated by the driving means thereof, inclu ing a conduit having a large volume air flow with reference to the fibre removed and a fibre screen adapted to ag-.

gregate such fibre, pneumatic conveyor apparatus having a collector ,inlet'associated with said screen to take the aggregated fibre, and flow-producin means for said conveyor apparatus con ucting such fibre with a. smaller relative volume of air flow from the screen to a remote place of deposit.

5. In a scavenger system for textile mills the combination with a textile machine of suction scavenger apparatus incorporated therein having a plurality of suction inlets and a large sized air conduit and also having a fibre screening means intercepting the air flow and aggregating the waste fibre, and pneumatic conveyor apparatus having smaller sized air piping' conducting said aggregated waste fibre from said screening means to a remote place of deposit.

6. A scavenger system for textile mills comprising the combination with a textile machine, of a suction scavenger apparatus incprporated therein including a plurality of inlets, a large sized conduit connected therewith, va moving screening means adapted to aggregate the removed fibre, and a, pneumatic conveyor apparatus having smaller sized piping for conducting said fibre to a remote (place of deposit and a suc tion inlet for sai conveyor piping coactin'g with said screening means to take the aggregated fibre therefrom.

7. In a scavenger system for textile mills the combination with a textile machine, of suction scavenger apparatus incorporated therein and comprising a suction fan, a conduit connected to the suction side thereof provided with suction inlets adapted to remove fibre from the machine, a conduit connected to the discharge side of said fan, a

screening means driven by the machine and adapted to aggregate the fibre discharged by said pressure conduit, and a pneumatic conveyor apparatus associated with said screening means to take the aggregated fibre therefrom and extending from said machine to a remote place of deposit.

8. In a scavenger system for textile mills the combination-with a textile machine, of an air conduit, a fan to produce'flow therethrough, a fibre-screening means adapted to separate the fibre in said conduit from the air flow and vent the latter adjacent said machine and pneumatic conveyor apparatus having piping of smaller size than said air conduit associated with said means and adapted to transport the collected fibre therefrom to a remote place of deposit.

9. In a scavenger system for textile mills the combination with a textile machine, of scavenger apparatus therefor comprising a suction air fan' and a movable fibre-screening means driven by said machine and a suction conveyor apparatus having a suction inlet adapted to take up the fibre collected on said screen and adapted to transport the same to a place of remote deposit.

10. The combination in a textile machine having a plurality of Working heads, of a suction scavenger. conduit mounted on the machine frame common to all of said heads, a suction fan connected to said conduit and arranged to bedriven from the machine, a fibre-collecting screen intercepting the air flow produced by said fan, a suction orifice adapted to take; the fibre collected by the screen, and a pipe for conducting such fibre to a place of remote deposit.

1-1. The combination in a textile-machine having a plurality of working heads, of a suction scavenger conduit mounted on" the machine frame and common to all the heads, a suction fan therefor, a fibre-collectin screen intercepting the air flow produce thereby and adapted to carry the collected fibre away from such flow, a suction orifice receiving the collected fibre and a pipe ofsmaller size than said conduit for conductmg suchfibre to a place of remote deposit.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification.

- JAMES J. MQGOWAN. 

